This was a fairly cute and fun romance novel that had a bit more substance than I first expected. I am debating between 3 and 4 stars with this book, so I think I am going to land in the middle with 3.5 stars.

Georgina gets fired from her job, then comes home and finds her boyfriend cheating on her. Feeling like a failure in all areas of her life, Georgina lucks into a great new job. The only catch-- her new boss is a long lost high school friend with whom she has a complicated history.

There were stretches in the middle of this book where the pacing slowed down a lot. I thought the book seemed really shallow at the beginning, but by the end I was pleased to see the depth of Georgina's character, especially when she finally opens up and shares her story. That was such an honest and real moment that really helped me to connect with Georgina (up until that point, I just wasn't sure what to think of her!). There were some great moments in this novel, like the end which featured one of the most amazing declarations of love that I have read...I loved that moment as well! I can't say that I loved every single moment of this book. I did not connect with many of the minor characters, like Georgina's friends and family, and I thought those sections slowed down my enjoyment of the story. Also several key parts of this story reminded me a lot of The Flatshare, so I couldn't help but compare the two books. Yet, once the book hits its stride in the end, I could not put it down and really enjoyed how the story wrapped up!

This book comes out in the US on September 10, and it's worth a read if you enjoy romantic comedies! Thanks to NetGalley and Harper Collins for providing me with a copy in exchange for my honest review.

Sadly, this book just wasn’t for me. The writing was so overtly pretentious that it made connecting with the story nearly impossible. I spent most of the time trying to decipher the nonstop run-on sentences instead of enjoying the reading experience. I’ve heard great things about this author so I’d still be interested in her other books, but unfortunately this one wasn’t a hit for me.

I really liked this book! It's the best kind of "chick-lit" book - a great story, fun characters that kept me interested, and well-written and not formulaic.

Georgina starts a new job as a bartender after she has to leave her old one under awkward personal circumstances. She's surprised to find the owner of the pub and her new boss is her ex-boyfriend and the love her of her life, Lucas. She's even more surprised to find that Lucas doesn't seem to remember her at all. Or does he? It's fun to see how the plot unfolds int his one!

I highly recommend this book.

Thanks to HarperCollins Publishers and NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I made it to 30% completion before I had to stop. The prologue was great and I expected the opening scene to be the girl running into her old flame. But instead it was other events. Then when she finally ran into the old flame, nothing happened. No spark, no dialogue, nada. I hoped the next scene would be them trying to interact again but instead it was stories from her life. I got lost in all of the reminiscing which pulled me out of the story. I was doing more skimming than reading.

The Brain.
The Athlete.
The Basket Case.
The Princess.
The Criminal.

You Never Forget Your First Love. Do You?

"Don't You Forget About Me" written by Mahairi McFarlane is a fantastic romantic comedy about thirty-something Georgia, drifting through life and love. To top it all off, she's found herself in a dead end job, with a cheating boyfriend, and a family (while loving) that doesn't often like her.

Life take a sharp turn when she bumps into her first love from high school her mind and heart are sent into a tailspin. His, well...he doesn't remember her. What?!!!!

I am a huge fan of the nineteen eighties romantic comedy genre and McFarlan's books is lovely. She touches upon important issues facing women today, while creating a captivating story. A love story that is real and relevant. Not cheesy.

I highly recommend "Don't Your Forget About Me." A great read that makes you smile, laugh, cry, and root for love.

If you thought that Brigitte Jones was terrific, wait until you read this book
It is a great rom-com
Love never happens easily and it is no different here
The book is very breezy and funny
It made me laugh a lot and actually elicited some tears
I love this book. It put me in a great mood for days after reading it

I like everything I’ve ready by Mhairi McFarlane, and I like this as well. But I found it a bit too familiar—entertaining but unremarkable with a protagonist who resembles many romantic heroines before her: attractive, insecure, lovable and love starved. The main thing that got in the way of me really getting immersed in the narrative though was not the sameness but rather the unusual and, for me, unbelievable premise about a first love that is both indelible and life changing for our heroine and yet somehow literally forgotten (she thinks) by her former boyfriend. I like her and he's great. But nothing about how their reacquaintance plays out makes sense. It kept taking me out of the narrative which feels a bit like a rough draft.

Thanks to Netgalley and to the publisher for sending me an e-galley of this book!

That being said this story starts out slow, causing me to tune out bits here and there. This book is very British, hence why it has not been published to the US yet. However it has been in the UK for a year. I found the British humor hilariously dry (my kind of humor), although there were many times when I did not know what was being referenced.
There are quite a many characters. Where at time I found this a bit muddled, but other times it was necessary to really portray Georgina's character as a girl's girl. I wouldn't really call this as much of a romance as a comedy of errors that includes some romantic elements.

I loved this book. I really liked Georgina and felt like the story showed her experiencing a lot of personal growth.

Thanks to Netgalley and to the publisher for sending me an e-galley of this book!

Don't You Forget About Me is a heartwarming tale of first love, loss and finding your way.

I want to preface this review to say that the blurb that lead me to deciding to read this book did read like a romance, but I saw it was categorized as women's fiction, which I don't usually read. I was pleasantly surprised.

At the beginning of the book there's a lovely flashback of Georgina when she's in high school, I assume it's high school because I'm in the US and this is called "sixth form" and they mention prom and going off to college so, she's a senior. We get to see her interacting with a quiet Irish boy in her English class as they share a project on Wuthering Heights (which I need to read, more so after this). Lucas is bright yet quiet and very sweet. The type of boy I would have gravitated to when I was younger so I was a fan.

Flash forward to Georgina when she's hit the big 30 and she's working in a really horrible faux Italian restaurant called "That's Amore!". With light run in that had her pinned between the incompetent and cocky chef and a food critic, she's fired. Things don't slow down from there when instead of going to face her roommate she decides to go to her boyfriend Robin's place and catches him in bed with his personal assistant.

Again, I want to say that I was thinking this was more of a romance, probably an adult contemporary romance so I was thinking I'd see Lucas again fairly soon, but it took a while. I was beginning to lose hope until he showed up as 1 of 2 bothers that owned a renovated bar called "The Wicker" which Georgina's brother in law set up a small job to help out the now out of work Georgina.

Lucas, now calling himself Luke, doesn't remember Georgina, but she remembers him in this half hope, half agony sort of way (Not Bronte, I know, but still works) thinking that she could have a clean slate while remembering how things were between them and very clearly beginning to have feelings for him.

This is more of a slow burn in terms of the romance and there is a fair bit of happenings before things develop including Robin, the cheating a-hole, being super manipulative, which might trigger women who have experienced such a guy in their own lives.

I was surprised at how much I enjoyed the story, coming into it thinking it was a romance. It did have kind of the Bridget Jones vibe, but not really. Reading a few other reviews it really felt like some of the people reviewing didn't finish and were flustered by the plot not picking up or not behaving like the romance the blurb suggests. If you're put off by other reviews. Don't be. The romance takes its time to bloom, but it's well worth it and it's meaningful and sweet. Lucas/Luke is amazing.

With a title like that, and as a reader of my particular age where that phrase brings reminiscing of bad guy Bender raising his fist as he leaves Saturday detention, I just had to give this book a shot. Love the title, love the cover. The book is written by Scottish author Mhairi McFarlane, whose name is pronounced, confusingly enough, as Vah-ree. I found to book to be interesting. Started strong with Georgina being fired from her job and finding her boyfriend is a cheater all in the same day. She takes the first available job as a waitress at a bar, only to find out it is owned by Lucas McCarthy, her high school love. There were things I didn't like - he kissed her in high school but has no recollection of her now?! - and things I did like - genuinely comedic moments. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Thank you Negalley and the author/publisher for giving me the chance to review this book.

I adored this sweet story. This was laugh out loud entertaining.

The story opens with Georgina and Lucas being paired together for a project in high school; while Georgina never really noticed him before, she is attracted to him very quickly, emotionally and physically. They start going "steady" but neglect to tell anyone for some reason. Then at an end of year party (almost meant to be their first time), the popular guy, Richard Hardy, hits on Georgina and abruptly we move forward to 12 years later. We don't know what happened that night, just feelings were hurt and Lucas and Georgina are over.

12 years later, Georgina is working as a waitress with a hilarious cast of characters, not to mention rated 88% terrible on Travel Advisor. Overall, her life is exploding in all areas and after one hilarious scene after another, she winds up as a bartender at a new bar started by two brothers. One of them is Lucas.

He doesn't seem to remember her...while he seems angry she is there they quickly become close. Old feelings come to light, but still, he doesn't remember her...or does he?

One of the funniest books i have read all year for sure. A bit formulaic in the sense that these two characters are brooding for each other, there is some conflict that draws them apart, and they ultimately come back together, but the ending was surprisingly touching. A standout for sure!

I enjoyed reading Don't You Forget About Me. I was expecting a romance story and I got one, along with much more. Georgina is in her last year of school in Sheffield, England. A chance rearrangement of desks has her partnering with Lucas - a boy she hadn't really noticed. In no time the two are sharing love of books and falling in love. A horrible mistake during a drunken end-of-term dance results in an end to the relationship. Alas, life moves on. Join in years later - Georgina is getting fired from her job in Sheffield's worst restaurant. At loose ends, she jumps at the chance to tend bar at an important event in a new pub as a favor to her brother-in-law. Devlin McCarthy is a great guy who runs the pub with his brother. Georgina does a great job, works well with Devlin and is offered a permanent position. Enter the other brother, who Georgina realizes Lucas her first love! He's grown even more handsome, been widowed, and is running several pubs in Ireland as well as this one in Sheffield. The only problem is that he doesn't remember Georgina AT ALL! Should she tell him and risk losing a job she enjoys, or just keep quiet. Fortunately she has the help of her 3 fantastic friends, her annoying and not-very-supportive family, and advice from the therapist she started seeing when her father died suddenly the year she finished school. Georgina has got to sort through the mess her life has become and make some serious choices about the future.

Fans of Jo Jo Moyes, Sophie Kinsella, and the Bridget Jones series will love this book. The characters are very well-developed - people you'd enjoy hanging out with. There are some serious topics, but McFarlane deals with them with sensitivity and respect. I had a hard time putting this one down. I'm eager to read other books by this author and am grateful for the ARC.

Slow to start, but finally within 100 pages from the end, the drama peaked and told a compelling story. While it is billed as a romance novel and yes does feature a love story, it's more of a tale of a woman's growth and strength to stand on her own, which is always a lovely characteristic in a book.

Thanks to NetGalley I was able to get my hands on a copy of Don't You Forget About Me , in exchange for an honest review. The book Gods were smiling down on me, that my first review for them is a book that I could not put down. Okay , Okay, I did reluctantly. One must use the facilities on occasion , and feed pesky children. :) Back to the point , this book. I don't want to take up your day writing about , I will break it down.

Begins with main characters in high school and after first chapter , I believe, jumps into the future twelve years to what is their present day . Takes place in Northern England , Sheffield to be exact. I only had a difficult time understanding some of the probably British semi-well known names that were tossed about here and there. Love a witty English story .

Georgina is the main character and she is incredibly easy to like and root for. The story is a rom/com , with highly dramatic and serious moments.

Others can and will break down the story line and will tell you what to expect. I don't want to do that . I will tell you it is about relationships. It is about honesty and truth. It is about loss, grief, love. It encapsulates much more . It is about Georgina taking control of her life, her narrative . Letting go of her past . Accepting herself as she is .

There are parts to the story which are difficult to read. It may be triggering . I sobbed through these parts.

Georgina is her own hero , she doesn't need a man to save her. She finds her voice and saves herself. Isn't that what we all want for ourselves. Any other positives in the end are just a bonus.


Recommend for anyone who fancies a good rom/com or chic lit. This could make a wonderful book club pick .

If there’s one thing worse than being fired from the grottiest restaurant in town, it’s coming home early to find your boyfriend in bed with someone else. Reeling from the indignity of a double dumping on the same day, Georgina snatches at the next job that she’s offered – barmaid in a newly opened pub, which just so happens to run by the boy she fell in love with at school: Lucas. Meeting Lucas again not only throws Georgina’s chaotic present into sharp relief, but also brings a dark secret from her past bubbling to the surface...

Overall, I enjoyed this book. The characters and the way in which Mhairi McFarlane wrote their witticisms was enjoyable and fun; on the same token, the writing also lost me quite a bit, as it meandered (sort of like a stream of consciousness) quite a bit and many of the British references flew over my head as an American librarian. The writing is what made me give it a 4 instead of a 5, but Georgina is one of the most relatable characters I've read in a long time and she was such a treasure in this book. I'd recommend it to those who enjoy Sophie Kinsella, as well as those who pine for second chance romances.

Beautiful book and easy read! I love Emily Giffin's novels and this book reminded me so much of her writing style. This is new author that I will definitely be watching!

This one has to be a DNF for me, at least for now. I really struggled with the pacing of the book. I think I was just in the mood for a nice unrealistic romance, and this was more of a slow burn. The writing was okay, and the characters were fine, I just couldn’t get into it. I’m hoping to try again in the future after its been published, and maybe my opinion will change.

I was given an advanced reader's copy via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I tried to finish this book a couple of times. I just found it preposterous that anyone would forget their first love. I found the plot much too slow, and there just wasn’t enough time spent with the main characters to pull me in and keep me there.

I love the humor in this story as well as the main character, Georgina. A thirty year old waitress, Georgina loses her job and relationship all at once. Her brother in law gets her a job in a new bar, with a client of his. Known for mucking things up, Georgina is determined for it to work, until she realizes that her first love is the owner of the bar. Mixed in with family relationships, and true emotions, you will love this one.